The ministry of health in South Sudan’s Yei River State, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), started vaccinating health workers against Ebola as part of preparedness measures to fight the spread of the disease.

Officials are afraid the Ebola virus is going to spread across the border from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where an outbreak is still worsening.

Yei’s health minister Kogo Manase Levi told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that they started vaccinating 400 health workers in the state.

“All our medical workers in the state have been targeted for vaccination. I also want to take this opportunity to encourage all citizens and those coming from Uganda and DRC to use official routes. They must report themselves to the screening sites first,” he said.

The minister said although the state has not recorded any case of Ebola, the government is on high alert.

The common border between Yei River State and DRC is porous and there is a lot of human activity.